It’s time to move on from 2014 and take a look at what’s coming up in the world of Victoria sports.
The Victoria Royals, who have enjoyed a great start to the 2014/15 season, kick off their 2015 with two televised games in January, one on the 7th on Shaw TV vs the Medicine Hat Tigers and one on Sportsnet at 7:30 pm on Jan 23rd vs the Kamloops Blazers.
February brings Hockey Hooky day on the 17th against Moose Jaw. This is a noon start where the team is encouraging school kids to come to the game. You can catch another televised Sportsnet game on February 20 at 7:30 pm against the high flying Kelowna Rockets.
In March the 3 main events are Scouts and Guides night on the 14th vs the Giants and Minor Hockey Appreciation Night on the 15th vs the Giants at 1:05 pm .
The team rounds out the season with their annual fan appreciation night, which is the last home game of the year on March 20th against the Everett Silvertips.
Too early to talk about playoffs yet but the team will take part in the annual bantam draft in May and finally training camp for the 2015/16 season starts mid-August.
Switching over to soccer, the Highlanders will be announcing their schedule at the end of January or beginning of February. Fans of local footie will be able to find out more as the team begins broadcasting home matches online and increasing video coverage throughout the year with soccer features and interviews.
Following on the success of the Highlanders’ first International Friendly with the Glasgow Rangers the team hopes to announce another match for 2015.
The HarbourCats baseball team returns for their third season of West Coast league action at Royal Athletic Park. The 54 game regular season will start June 5 and ends on August 9 with playoffs following. The home opening series is yet to be announced.
The Victoria Cougars, hot out of the hockey gate in the 2014/15 season, have high hopes for 2015. On their radar is winning the Andy Hebenton trophy (best overall record) for the fifth straight year and the Brent Paterson Memorial trophy (playoff champion) for the fourth straight year.
Off the ice coaches will be looking to place players graduating from the team into colleges where they can continue their hockey careers and education. Lacrosse fans will have to wait until late January when the Shamrocks expect to release their schedule for 2015. The team and fans will be hoping for another visit to the Mann Cup, the Canadian mens’ senior lacrosse championship which they narrowly lost in 2014.
Local runners will want to mark Sunday October 11th on their calendar as the date of the 36th annual GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon. The TC 10K and half marathon goes April 26.
Two wheel fans can sign up for the 5th annual Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria that will see riders choosing from three different courses on August 23. Experienced cyclists can take on the 140 km route while others can choose between an 85 km ride or the entry level 45 km course.
On the high school front, Esquimalt High hosts their annual Sr. Boys Esquimalt Firemen Tournament starting January 15 with a junior boys jamboree. The girls team will will play the Vic High girls in a 12:30 exhibition match January 16. The seniors boys games will follow starting at 2:12pm
Esquimalt will also host the Island Elite training day for Island wrestlers looking to place at BC's and Nationals on January 10.
Vic High will serve as host for a senior girls basketball tournament on January 30 and 31.
Vic High’s girls volleyball team will play in a beach league through May and June.
In other high school sports, badminton starts in February and rugby season starts up. Soccer and track and field seasons start after spring break.
Vic High’s girls volleyball team will play in a beach league through May and June.
You can check out the Islands best figure skaters in Esquimalt February 6 through 8, as the Archie Browning Sports Centre is the site of the Skate Canada British Columbia/Yukon 2015 Vancouver Island Region Championships.
The BC Summer Swimming Association will hold their BCSSA Provincial Championships 2015 at Saanich Commonwealth Place pool August 17-23. Spectators can take in Water Polo, Synchronized Swimming, Diving and Speed events.
Finally, racquetball will be highlighted as the YMCA-YWCA of Greater Victoria is host to the Trent Schonert Memorial Racquetball Classic from February 20-22.
ddenton@vicnews.com
